📝 You Don’t Own the Deal If You Don’t Control the Paper

📝 You Don’t Own the Deal If You Don’t Control the Paper

Posted: Tuesday, July 29, 2025 | Nate Marshall 

There’s a massive gap between knowing about a deal… and actually owning it.

Every day in this industry, someone posts a “deal” in a Facebook group. No address. No contract. Just ARV claims and some grainy photos. So you ask the obvious:

“Is this under contract?”

And they say:

“Not by me, but I know the guy who has it.”

🚨 Right there — the deal is dead.

Here’s the reality:

If you don’t have a legally binding purchase contract,
If you don’t have a JV agreement or assignment in place,
If you don’t have direct permission to market the property,
Then you are not in the deal.

You are outside the transaction — and dragging others into confusion.

Paper = Power

In real estate, control of the paper is control of the deal.

The purchase agreement is what gives you contractual rights.
The assignment gives you authority to resell or market that contract.
The disclosures protect you — and your end buyer.

Without those documents?
You’re just another social media post trying to look like a player in a game you’re not really in.

The JV Chain Mess

You’ve seen it:

- Wholesaler A has it under contract.
- Wholesaler B is “partnered” but has no agreement.
- Wholesaler C got a screenshot and is now texting it around.
- Buyer D gets it — and then finds out the contract expired two weeks ago.

That’s not hustle. That’s confusion.
And it kills trust faster than any bad rehab estimate ever could.

Why This Hurts Everyone

📉 Sellers lose trust in investors.
📉 Buyers waste time chasing ghost deals.
📉 You burn your brand before it even gets off the ground.
📉 The industry suffers — and that’s how regulation shows up at the door.

My Take:

I’ve said it before:

If you didn’t negotiate it… you didn’t sign it… you’re not assigned into it… you don’t own it.

Control is the currency of credibility.

Want to last in this business?
Stop pretending. Start papering. Do the deal right — or don’t do it at all.

— Nate Marshall
Executive Chairman, Private Money Authority
Founder of The REINDEER Organization & RCIC – Real Estate Capital Intelligence Community

#contractfirst
#nocurdaisychains
#wholesalingcompliance
#dealcontrol
#paperequalspower
#rcic
#privatemoneyauthority
#agentsgather
#realestateethics

https://agentsgather.com/%f0%9f%93%9d-you-dont-own-the-deal-if-you-dont-control-the-paper/